Marty and Gabriel…

Those of you that have been reading my stories over the past couple of years know that I am a big fan of the sweet science. Boxing teaches so many life lessons yet it’s value is often underpinned by those who regard it as a barbaric sport. My argument stands, almost all sports are dangerous and while many do teach people how to work together on a team, there is not a sport that teaches people more about themselves than Boxing or the Martial Arts. Your very first lesson more often than not is humility, your almost guaranteed to get knocked on your ass when you start out. Quite honestly, there’s a lot of young kids roaming the streets of Dot and neighborhoods around the country that need to get knocked on their ass.

Martin Grealish has been teaching these lessons to Dorchester’s youth for years. You may have caught articles about Marty and his family in virtually every paper in our city and this blog. But I don’t think any of us have truly captured the bond that is formed between a young fighter and his trainer quite like Dante Luna has in his recent interview with Grealish protoge Gabriel Duluc. Luna, a Boston area filmmaker, has managed to capture Gabriel’s very honest account of how Grealish has helped him not only become a better fighter…but also a better person.

The circumstances may be different….but I have to admit….Marty and Gabe totally reminded me of pair of boxing legends.